First, some ground rules. To be a true franchise, you have to A) merit a spinoff and B) have an acknowledged interrelated continuity. I like Blake's 7, Fringe, Spider-Man, and James Bond as much as the next guy, but all of those properties are either alone in their singular incarnation, or are so diverse in their reincarnations there's nothing remotely approaching a central, acknowledged canon. Harry Potter, True Blood, Game of Thrones, TheWalking Dead, Twilight (shudder), and The Hunger Games may get there, but they aren't iconic franchises yet.

And now, the list...

10. Babylon 5Its spinoff series, Crusade, may have been smothered in the crib and its made-for-TV spinoff movies may be largely forgotten, but B5 still hangs around with a loyal group of adherents who demand respect for one of the few "serious" takes on television space opera. While it occupies a contentious place amongst sci-fi purists, Babylon 5's contributions to the genre and perseverance despite relative obscurity sneak it into the top 10 geek media franchises.
9. Stargate

Perhaps the best example of a movie that successfully reinvented itself on television and found a whole new, loyal, and broad audience, Stargate is also arguably the most fun geek media franchise of the last 20 years. (Well, at least until Stargate: Universe showed up.) Geeky mythology references, upbeat adventure stories, and no shortage of action made for an enjoyable formula that ran uninterrupted across four TV shows (don't forget the dreadful 2002 Stargate: Infinity animated series) for 14 years. That'll make you stand up and say kree!

Yes, they're stretching The Hobbit into three movies for no good reason, but that still counts as a spinoff of the epic fantasy film trilogy that won a Best Picture Oscar. One does not simply walk into an Academy Award, and that distinction alone -- to say nothing of attracting legions of fans almost instantly -- makes LOTR the one fantasy franchise to rule them all.

The new kid on the block is also arguably the most ambitious: Marvel spent the better part of a decade building up a stable of film properties that subtly interconnected to culminate in The Avengers, the biggest blockbuster of all time not directed by James Cameron and arguably the first truly successful comic book-style crossover movie. That the continuity will continue into Thor 2, Captain America 2, Iron Man 3, Avengers 2, and the S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series -- as produced and written by Avengers writer/director Joss Whedon -- proves this isn't a flash in the pan. Marvel changed the geek franchise game in the biggest way possible, and it isn't done yet. Hulk smash!

Two TV series, counting the spinoff Angel (and three if you count the animated series that almost was). An in-canon comic book sequel series. A revival of serious sci-fi-oriented feminism. A genre-redefining upgrade of characterization and dialogue. Proof that you could do comic book genre melodrama on television and still draw in casual viewers. And if all of that wasn't enough, Buffy gave us Joss Whedon, whose name is literally all over the list. Win.

The new one, not the old one. BSG had two spinoff series, though only one of them made it to television. It ended poorly, by most accounts. Its mythology is confusing and its continuity haphazard. None of that matters, because Battlestar Galactica was hands down the darkest, smartest, most engagingly grown-up take on sci-fi TV we've ever seen. Frak you if you don't agree. So say we all!

With all due respect to Buffy and The Avengers, this is Joss Whedon's magnum opus; the light that burned so bright it lasted but a moment (half a season) yet could not be extinguished (hello, cinematic Serenity). Forget that speaking Mandarin and appreciating westerns was suddenly cool again, or that wearing knit orange Laplander caps and being morally gray were suddenly congruous. Firefly and its successor film became a harbinger of all that is transcendent, possible, and tragically non-commercial in science fiction. That it lived briefly and died young is simply a further testament of these attributes. Firefly broke our hearts and made us love it all the more. Shiny!

The antecedent of nearly all others on this list, and the very definition of a franchise. In fact, "regeneration" of its lead actor, creative tone, and attendant cast is built directly into the concept. The Doctor isn't famous just for the trappings of his multi-decade romp through time, space, and British culture -- though the TARDIS, sonic screwdriver, and various scarf- bowtie-related fashion oddities are all geek-famous for a reason. Doctor Who is beloved and iconic for solving problems, as Craig Ferguson musically pronounced, with intellect and romance rather than violence and cynicism. The genre can always use more of that. Geronimo!

The definitive science fiction movie franchise for 30 years running, and patient zero for spinoffs into merchandising, television, games, and every other conceivable media -- for better and for worse. The fact that even Jar Jar Binks, Hayden Christensen's acting, and a blatant shark jump couldn't kill it proves that Star Wars is irretrievably embedded into our collective consciousness. It goes beyond geek appeal -- though the existence of the 501st Legion demonstrates we geeks take it pretty seriously -- as pretty much every human being on the planet knows "May the Force be with you." It has its own pun-ful holiday, for crying out loud. The lightsaber is the weapon every kid wants to wield. The X-Wing is the starfighter everyone wants to fly -- and the reason most of us learned the word "starfighter" in the first place. We want to be Luke Skywalker when we're young, Han Solo or Leia when we're grown up, and quote Yoda for our entire lives. The Force will be with us, always.

1. Star Trek
For a large swath of muggles, Trekkie and geek are synonymous, interchangeable terms. Trekkies defined fandom for decades and are still among its leading lights. Star Trek, in turn, defined television science fiction and set the standard by which all other franchises are measured. The future that Gene Roddenberry predicted had devices we wanted to build (and did), a culture we aspired to create (it's coming), and characters that went beyond icon to archetype. "Beam me up" has a thousand slang connotations. Spock is the prototype for anti-emotional protagonists. Kobayashi Maru isn't just a reference, it's a verb. James T. Kirk is the starship captain that all others are designed to repudiate or emulate, even within Star Trek. And if you think Trek is over, all I can say to you is this. Live long and prosper.

Disagree with the order, or think another franchise is more worthy of a place in this list? The debate awaits in the comments section.

About Jay Garmon

Jay Garmon has a vast and terrifying knowledge of all things obscure, obtuse, and irrelevant. One day, he hopes to write science fiction, but for now he'll settle for something stranger -- amusing and abusing IT pros. Read his full profile. You can a...

Full Bio

Jay Garmon has a vast and terrifying knowledge of all things obscure, obtuse, and irrelevant. One day, he hopes to write science fiction, but for now he'll settle for something stranger -- amusing and abusing IT pros. Read his full profile. You can also follow him on his personal blog.

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I won't quibble with Star Trek and Star Wars being one and two. However, Star Gate and Babylon 5 should be in the top 5. Babylon 5, even though Crusade was short-lived, was one of the highest quality sci-fi shows and nowhere as hokey as BSG-2 (which was much higher quality than BSG-1 - but one must also consider the era in which BSG-1 was shown).
I would not put BuffyTVS in the top 10. While I really enjoyed Firefly, I feel it wasn't on long enough to merit a top 10 (but willing to concede and I thought FOX should not have canceled it - at least they gave Fringe time to conclude the story arc). Likewise the Marvel comics - read them as a kid along with the DC comics (back when they cost a nickel - find a few 2 cent deposit pop bottles and you had enough for a comic book). Speaking of DC comics, how could the Superman/Smallville TV series been left off the list? And remember Batman - POW!, BAM!, HOLY CRAP SHOOT, BATMAN!??? Also, interesting that X-Files was left off as it had a movie too! I would also agree on Dr. Who - even though I am not from the UK nor its Commonwealth. Unfortunately, I don't get to see it anymore since it is carried on BBC America, which comes with the next tier of cable TV and a costly sum. There was also a Canadian series that should deserve consideration, even though there were no spin-offs nor movies - it was called Starlost, produced back in the 70s and involved Harlan Ellison in the production. It was another quality Sci-fi show, even for today's TV. At one time, you could watch episodes on Hulu for free, not sure if one still can. There was a book and comic book spin-offs later. Check out the wiki - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Starlost .

I liked Babylon very much so I downloaded all the episodes with torrent I did not mind so much "pirating" since it does not come on any more. Very true to human values & treason & sarcasm in all the characters & also good values. Good actors in all of them since I am a sci-fi fan I have not seen any better as TV programmation.

BSG had the spin-off Caprica that I thought had some potential, blurring the line between reality and cyberspace. That series ended even more poorly than BSG. Guess the writers had no heart to write a meaningful finale.
On Firefly, I bought the series and Serenity movie, which I tend to watch almost every year. I too wonder why it was canceled. The casting was perfect and the story lines were rich and varied.

The Hobbit is a *spin-off*??? Ummm...this may be news to y'all, but it is actually a prequel, part, essentially, of a continuing series of stories, and on that basis the Harry Potter movies ought to qualify. LOTR is an excellent set of movies, but it fails to qualify on the criteria set down for the list. Personally I would have included Terry Pratchett's 'Discworld' series, given it has had TV, stage play, musical, animated and graphic novel adaptations, not to mention a veritable raft of spin-offs.

Star trek was good, but Stargate was really interesting, fun, and had good stories. And none of that shaky camera combat that movies like to do now. Instead everyone wore spark producing armor that never got any holes.

Don't know why you wouldn't include the first Battlestar Galactica. The 2nd series follows along with the timeline of Fred Saberhagen's "Beserker" series of short stories upon which the whole series is premised.

Just watched the half-season a couple of days ago on Netflix... That was a mistake. I've spent the better part of the last three days wondering why any TV network would ever cancel the show, and wondering (in futility, I'm sure) if there is any force in the universe that could convince Mr. Whedon, the cast, and a respectable network to muster at least the few final episodes of that first season.
Oh well, at least I'll always have Dr. Horrible.

While I might disagree with the order of some of those due to personal preferences (or a few I wasn't a fan of), I definitely have to agree with all what I see on there as being largest/iconically-geek/etc. One of the better '10 best' I've seen

One very important series you missed was Jericho which is currently the most watched series on netflix, much like Firefly it only lasted one season and was cancelled but unlike Firefly a fan campaign was able to convince the network to bring the show back for a seven-episode second season. It has such a huge cult following that even now season three and four are being done as graphic novels and there is talk about a movie and or a resurrection of the series by netflix.